Follow the author of this article

Follow the topics within this article

Prefacing your best shot in a high-powered meeting with, ‘This is probably really rubbish, and sorry if it is, but what do we all think about…’ would not, I’m convinced, be anyone’s career high point. But this was me, presenting a cherished idea to the board of the company where I worked 12 years ago, having sat for 10 stressful minutes waiting for my moment. Inwardly, I cringed.

A journalist for many years and a three- time magazine editor, I should have known better than to apologise for anything I had to say in meetings. It was the kind of self-effacing behaviour for which I was always scolding junior staffers. And yet apologetic preambling was my default among senior colleagues. That is,...